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Education Support Professionals

Education Support Professionals

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Children nutrition bill passes with bipartisan support


The U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Education and Labor July 15 passed H.R. 5504, the Improving the Nutrition of America’s Children Act. bipartisan vote of 32 to 13.  The bill passed on a 32 to 13 bipartisan vote.

The goal of the bill is to improve child nutrition and address both hunger and obesity by providing students with the tools to live healthy lives. The bill’s provisions include modernizing and expanding current food programs and introducing new programs to better meet the nutritional needs of children ranging from infants to school-age children. 

This legislation would also improve school food safety; provide direct certification for children receiving Medicaid benefits; offer year round pilot feeding programs; increase rural access to the Summer Food Service Program; expand the afterschool meals program; provide nutrition education; provide grants to purchase new equipment; create nutrition standards for school meals; and implement many other new programs and expansions. Significantly, the bill also provides for a 6 cent increase in reimbursement per school meal. 

Chairman Miller started the two day hearing markup by saying “In a country as great as ours, no child should go hungry. This legislation gives us a real opportunity to make dramatic reforms to help prevent hunger, to improve children’s health and increase access to healthy meals. The health and academic success of an entire generation of children is at stake.” 

Testifying in support of the bill were Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and First Lady Michelle Obama, among others. During markup, 15 amendments were adopted that enhanced the bill. Amendments adopted include an organic food pilot program, a passage allowing schools to donate food to food banks, and priority to SIG-eligible schools in school breakfast expansion programs.

There was no mention of offsets or a timeline for full House consideration.  For more information including a list of the amendments, visit http://edlabor.house.gov/markups/2010/07/hr-5504-improving-nutrition-fo.shtml.

Stay tuned for the next round of action as this bill moves to the House floor.

Members attending the hearing included:  Chairman George Miller (D-CA); Ranking Member John Kline (R-MN); Representatives Dale Kildee (D-MI); Donald Payne (D-NJ); Rob Andrews (D-NJ); Lynn Woolsey (D-CA); John Tierney (D-MA); Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY); Dennis Kucinich (D-OH); David Wu (D-OR); Rush Holt (D-NJ); Susan Davis (D-CA); Timothy Bishop (D-NY); Joe Sestak (D-PA); David Loebsack (D-IA); Mazie Hirono (D-HI); Jason Altmire (D-PA); Phil Hare (D-IL); Yvette Clarke (D-NY); Joe Courtney (D-CT); Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH); Marcia Fudge (D-OH); Jared Polis (D-CO); Paul Tonko (D-NY); Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR); Gregorio Sablan (D- Mariana Islands); Dina Titus (D-NV); Judy Chu (D-CA); Tom Petri (R-WI); Howard McKeon (R-CA); Michael Castle (R-DE); Mark Souder (R-IN); Vern Ehlers (R-MI); Judy Biggert (R-IL); Todd Platts (R-PA); Joe Wilson (R-SC);Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA); Tom Price (R-GA); Rob Bishop (R-UT); Brett Guthrie (R-KY); Bill Cassidy (R-LA); Tom McClintock (R-CA); Bill Cassidy (R-LA); Duncan Hunter (R-CA); Glenn Thompson (R-PA); and David Roe (R-TN).

Resources:

Contact Shilpa Reddy of NEA Government Relations for more information.



Highlights:


About Education Support Professionals

NEA's Education Support Professional (ESP) members, one-half million and growing, take care of our children every day and make sure they have the tools they need to succeed in our schools and classrooms. We are the...

  • school bus driver who greets your child with a warm "hello" and delivers him safely to school
  • cafeteria worker who gives your daughter a warm, healthy meal
  • paraeducator who provides your child with a little extra help in the classroom
  • school nurse who comforts your sick child
  • office assistant who makes sure your son's records are up to date
  • technician who wires the classroom computers
  • custodian who works to keep schools clean
  • security professional who helps keep students safe.

We make up more than 40 percent of the total K-12 education workforce. We are a critically important part of the school community. Learn more about what we do in ESP Jobs.

We directly affect student learning.

  • In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the bus drivers in the Pennsbury School District link bus safety activities with the language arts and social studies curriculum for kindergartners.
  • In Broward County, Florida, paraprofessionals supervise and train students to run a peace center where they learn peer mediation.
  • Reeths-Puffer, Michigan, food-service staff teach nutrition to student and parent groups and provide tasty, economical catering for staff parties.
  • A custodian in Topsham, Maine, counsels elementary school teachers on selecting safe classroom materials.

We bring years of experience to our jobs.

  • On average, K-12 ESP members have nearly 11 years of experience in education support work.

We are dedicated to students and schools.

  • Nearly 95 percent of K-12  ESPs surveyed in 1997 said they planned to stay in education.test

We have strong ties to the community. Nearly 80 percent of us...

  • volunteer time to community organizations or activities
  • live in the school districts where we work

We've put together this ESP section of the National Education Association's Web site to help parents, community members, and other educators gain a better understanding of Education Support Professionals, and to provide resources that will help ESP's meet today's challenges and do our jobs better. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please send us an e-mail.test


Save the dates

NEA ESP 2011 Conference, March 11-13, Hilton Washington Hotel, Washington, DC

2011 ESP National Conference Call for Presenters. Submission deadline: August 15, 2010.

Every education worker has a role in ending child hunger

The following story from the Oregon Education Association prize winning Today’s OEA is an in-depth look at how proper meals and nutrition are an integral part of a student’s life and education. “The lunchroom can be the great equalizer in public education” and this story explores how hunger and well balanced meals can make a difference in ensuring a student is well-fed, and thus best equipped, to learn. Providing healthy meals to millions of students across the country is just one of the many jobs of food service professionals.

How ESPs do that job is something Cindy Long, a writer for NEA Today, is looking to write about. She is working on a story about federal funding that could be used for food service professionals to be trained in healthy food prep techniques. If you are an ESP food service worker willing to talk about the importance of this training and how you and your co-workers are preparing healthy meals for students, write to Cindy at clong@nea.org.


Highlights from 2010 Annual ESP Conference

2010 C.L.E.A.N.® Awards Recognize Custodians' Contributions to Public Health

2010 NEA ESP of the Year

Meet Helen Cottongim, a Kentucky school bus driver and winner of our highest honor for support professionals.

Video

A Day Without Education Support Professionals (ESP)

A Day Without Education Support Professionals (ESP)
See for yourself how important every education support professional is to the daily lives of our students and our schools. This poignant video illustrates the value of our work on so many levels. It was produced by Indiana member Mary Neylon.

Video

Education Support Professionals Day

Education Support Professionals Day
NEA Executive Committee Member Paula Monroe tells the story of ‘Education Support Professional of the Year’ Kathie Axtell.


ESP Day 2009

Radio Interviews

Article

Video


Dave Arnold: This school custodian and former Illinois Education Association ESP of the Year is a published poet. But most Association members know him best from the editorials -- Dave's View --